Biden's ransom payment for the release of Americans

 The Hill:

The Biden administration is facing questions over whether its strategy to bring hostages home could be incentivizing more hostage-taking from hostile nations.

Biden administration officials have made clear their ultimate objective is the safe return of Americans being wrongly detained abroad. While not every release of a U.S. prisoner has involved some form of payment, some of the highest profile cases — the release of Brittney Griner from Russia last year and of five Americans in Iran last week — have included either a prisoner swap or the release of funds.

The approach has set off a broader debate over whether the strategy will incentivize bad actors to take Americans hostage abroad, believing they can extract something from the U.S. government in return.

“We do know that denying concessions or refusing to make concessions has never stopped the practice of hostage-taking,” said Dani Gilbert, an expert in hostage-taking at Northwestern University.

“Hostage takers derive a lot of benefit from capturing Americans that has nothing to do with the results of a negotiation, to include the public attention that they get from holding an American captive, the propaganda that it serves for them, and the benefits to a hostage taker sometimes if they kill or injure American captives.”

Biden is not the first president to agree to prisoner swaps or other concessions in exchange for the safe return of imprisoned Americans. But the high-profile nature of some prisoner releases during his first term has drawn the ire of Republicans and put a spotlight on the conundrum officials face when deciding whether to agree to such deals.
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Critics argue that such tactics will only increase the risks for Americans abroad.

“I think they’re engaged in human trafficking. And I think it’s a very dangerous proposition,” said John Bolton, who has served in the State Department and as former President Trump’s national security adviser.

“The policy question is what do you do to minimize the risk to Americans around the world in whatever environment to reduce the likelihood they will be taken hostage by state actors, terrorists, you name it,” he continued. “One critical way to do that is to make it clear that the price for the release of an American hostage is zero. In other words, there are no trades. When you abandon that policy, you’re simply indicating that trading is possible and the only issue is the price.”
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Trump managed to get American captives released without paying a ransom although he did have a meeting with the North Korean dictator.  I thought Trump's meeting with Kim in North Korea actually showed bravery.  Biden has been a reckless spender since his election so it is not surprising he would pay a ransom.